The vehicle steering wheel of almost every motor vehicle has a steering wheel body which is rigidly connected with the steering column, and at least one element which can be pressed down against the force of a return element against the steering wheel body, a horn contact being closed by the pressing down of this element.
In many cases, the movable element which can be pressed down is an airbag module or a part thereof. In the former case, the entire airbag module, i.e. an assembly substantially consisting of a housing, an airbag folded into the housing, a gas generator connected with the housing and a covering element spanning the housing, is held by means of springs and guide elements on the steering wheel body and a first horn contact is fastened to the housing, and a second horn contact is fastened to the steering wheel body, both horn contacts being connected with an electric lead.
In other designs, the airbag housing is rigidly connected with the steering wheel and only the covering element spanning the housing can be pressed down against the force of a return element—usually one or more springs—with a horn contact being closed as described above.
As disclosed by DE 20 2004 000 953 U1 it has become known to provide exclusively on the steering wheel side two wires which are to be brought into contact with each other on closing of the horn contact. For this, in the region in which the horn contact is situated, the steering wheel body has a recess through which the two wires extend which are to be brought in contact with each other causing actuation of the horn. The two wires, which are not insulated in the region of the recess, are respectively integral spring-elastic elements here, with the two wires at least partially overlapping each other. On pressing down of the movable element, a ram presses onto one of the two wire sections, so that the latter is pressed down and comes in contact with the second wire section. An advantage of this type of horn contact is that only one component, that is generally the vehicle steering wheel, requires electrical connections for the horn, whilst the element which is held movably on the steering wheel body, for example the airbag module, does not need to have any electrical connections for the horn. This has advantages in particular with regard to the simple installation of the airbag module. A disadvantage, however, is that the installation of the necessary wire sections in the steering wheel body is relatively laborious.